Document K66vpnpy9NKG1k18VxQONM0nN

''V>1 - i t t f c f in ia s Co.vruiy/,- --------- La t GtattanODf-, l e n n . ' .May; 3 , 1S34 U n it ir36 rrlngM 'vyour le t t e r of A p ril SSth, 1934, r e la tiv e to jc la im . " l n o te th a t you quote ne a s p ro m isin g g b l a b o ra t or. -lat^Jf'^of A n ril a -1934. I s tie d th a t I understood such m ight be/jid.S, p i o v i i e d H l ^ f c a g r e e d , o f c c u r s e , y.xxiiuriNaerstand tn e t t e s t s w o n ld iie open t a t t o r n e y , out not to -s a ^ if he choose. t^|. th a t -j.nfomSa'fcion from u s ^ a ^ u h a d no a u t h o r it y to c o n tr ib u te to th e % of scayots& ta t h a t m ioht be made, and I was r e p ly in g upjjaj my. a b i l i t y ,. |f ` w h atp in fo^ m ation th e y m ight r e v e a l , r a th e r th an my r ig h t;'tG them , - v ith o u t o o n t r ib u t in g vto th e c o s t s , e t c , a s you a r e no doubt^aWarje.'thet e o r d s 'a re v e r y c a r e f u l l y guarded docum ents. '-t'Sjfe? ' _ i *- , p S s p # s t e a s v m 'progress o f t h i s c a s e , s in c e my l a s t r e p o r t , h a ^ b e e n , t h u s t Boyd Hargraves', C hattanooga, T enn., a tto r n e y , r e p r e se n tin g l^ B |& / a d v ise d that- he wdtild f i l e s u it fo r 5 0 , 0 0 0 .0 0 damages on account o f in ju r ie s t o " h is a o lie n t,',u n le s s settlem en t could be had by Tuesday, A p ril 17-1934, see . H a r g r a v e s ^ lo tte r o f A p r il 1 1 t h . I communicated w ith H a rg ra v es,:;_mdty~ -.r; - \ suocee'ded-in. secu rin g*ten days e x te n sio n of tim e, t h is was again s e t up - - 1 t o May .& -1934, a t H argraves r e q u e s t . _l . In the meantime, 1 c a lle d on Dr. John H. R ev in g to j^ th e-; , a t t e n d in g p h y s ic ia n , and was inform ed th a t h e had n o t se e n - -r the p a st tw o.w eeks, and th a t h is c o n d itio n i s not im p r o v in g .R e j in g t o u i s o f the op in ion t h a t w i 11 n ever again be ab le to work, and 'A maybe u n a b le to u se h is le g s a t a l l in tim e . - ' ... , B y' , I learned t h a lH I ^ 9 ca rried sev era l insurance p o lic ie s , one of. w hich was w it h th e M e tr o p o lita n I n s . C o ., th a t t h i s in su ra n ce; company: was ca L led upon t o pay th e B B ^ J ^ P o l l cy i n f u l l on th e c l a i , o f . t o t a l *1l l i y and permanent d i s a b i l i t y . tn i^ H e tr o p o lita n c a lle d in D r. Wm. K. B ryan, fjh ^ tan ooga Bank B ld g ., t h is C ity , to s e t as a s o r t o f r e fe r e e to exam ine B H f c a n d rep ort on th e probably permanancy o f h is d i s a b i l i t y . Dr. Bryan i s a l s o a member o f th e s t a f f o f -rlan ger H o s p it a l, a man o f w ide ? experience in p h ysical ailm ents th at are la rg ely of a purely su b jectiv e , nature. . A o c o r d i n g l y w a s adm itted to Brlanger H o sp ita l as a p a tie n t o f D rs. Bryan tR R iR evington, on March 3 0 th -1934, and was examined by D r. J o n es, I n te r n e , th e reco rd s o f t h e 'h o s p it a l in d ic a te th at su b jectiv e exam ination reveal su b sta n tia lly as fo llo w s! ... Suddenly i l l on November 1 7-1933 - a b d c n in a l.p a in s . mmmm iiil| C holicy in nature - w r ist droping - general weakness - Lead ' , , , / , . lin e on exam inationat th a t tim e (K ovZl7-1933) The p h y s i c a l , o r o b j e c t iv e e x a m in a tio n , then taken by m im Dr. J o n e s ,g iv e s the follow in g fin d in g s: r ~ Head^- No a c u te h ead ; p a in s . , ~ *'V . B y e s'- Normal , ............ .. N ose - No d is c h a r g e '1 m2-SVCV/ Bungs.:- Normal. , '' ' - No te n d e r n e s s o f abdomen . . No te n d e r n e s s o f l i v e r R e c ta l - Normal / : E x trem ities.- E sse n tia lly normal except fo i weakness. . Glands - Normal .: . .; R e fle x - Normal - U r in a ly sis - O.il. M icro sco p ica l Bus 25-i extrem e m usclar #1 Gu3' N`- .f 2-- C hattanooga, T ann., Continuad BloodCount -- L eucocytes .. P e r cuo mm 5 ,0 0 0 ......... P o ly m o o la r 66 ..... r B rythrooytes . ' P a r c u . mn 4 ,4 1 0 ,0 0 0 , Hem oglobin . . lOfjT v Blood Count ...No S t i p p l e d C e l l s Pound . N ote, S p in a l f lu id - c le a r and se n t to la b . . The r e p o r t- c a r r ie s w ith i t an h o u rly re c o rd o f . n u rs e s v i s i t s , k in d of d i e t , ' tem p e ra tu re and p u rs e -re c o rd , e t c . , which fre q u e n tly r e s o r t s t h e l p a t i e n t s le e p in g ." And i s c lo s e d w ith th e d a te o f h i s d isc h a rg e v iz A p ril 3-1934, whth th e rem arks "Im proved"-, P a tie n t en tered th e H o sp ita l in a p riv a te c a r, and w alked to bed, and l e f t H ospital in p riv ate car. . . In d isc u ssin g th is re p o rt w ith Dr. R evington, th e D octor s t a t e d t h a t t h e s p i n a l f l u i d was n e g a t i v e a n d t h a t b lo o d '.T a sse r- ' manna f a i l e d to show any in d ic a tio n of S y p lis . .R evingtcn was asked w h e th e r o r n o t a S y rin g o m y e lia ( S p i n a l -Cord Ifiigjioa.} was fo u n d . R evington s ta te d th a t i t was d o u b tfu l and had n o t been determ ined by th e e x a m in a iio iK And f u r t h e r t h a t n o th in g e l s e h a d been shown t o show t h a t B B B ^ 'i l l n e s s was due t o any o t h e r c a u s e t h a n Lead p o is o n , and t h a t th is was in d ic a te d by a m arked Lead L ine in th e gums a t th e tim e o f th e o r i g i n a l ex am in atio n , b u t t h a t t h i s Lead . L in e h a d s i n c e c l e a r e d u p , and was n o t now p r e s e n t . He a l s o l a y s consid e r a b le ; s t r e s s on th e d ro p p in g o f t h e w r is ts . R evington s ta te s thai.U *^B H pl w ife inform ed him th a t was grow ing more a b se n t m in d ed e v e r y d a y , and was a p p a r e n t l y l o s i n g h i s m in d . And f u r t h e r t h a t he d o es n p t e x p e c t th e p a t i e n t to e v e r g e t w e l l , o r may n o t o v e r again use h is le g s. T his c o n te n tio n is n o t h eld in i t s ent i r e t y by Dr. Bryan, who s t a t e s t h a t h e e s p e c i a l l y e x a m i n e d o n t h e a b s e n t m in d ed n e s s p h a se , and found him e n t i r e l y norm ^^T He s t a t e s th a t th e r e is no in d ic a tio n o f atrophy in th e lim bs, th a t th ere does appear to be c o n sid e ra b le w eakness, which m isfit be caused by la c k o f u s e , th e p a t i e n t b e in g i n b e d mo s t o f th e tim e f o r s e v e r a l m o n th s . Nor does D r. Bryan b e live th a t i s p e rm a n e n tly d is a b le d ^ He d i d n o t exam ine a t the beginning of th e illn e s s , and in so fa r as h is exam inatio n goes th e re was no in d ic a tio n of th e Lead L in a , and p re se n t co n d itio n could w ell be th e r e s u lt o f som ething y e t u n d e f in e d .; D r. B ryan does n o t th in k th a t th e sm a ll am ountof t e t r a e t h y l le a d i n Good G u lf G a so lin e cou ld have p o is o n e d ^ J ^ B ^ an d e s p e c i a l l y ; s o i n a s s h o r t a sp a c e o f tim e . As t o t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f a S yringom yelia, D r. B ryan' s M edical d ic tio n a ry g iv e s th is ailm en t a s " `ffumor o f th e S p i n a l C ord" and d o e s n o t g iv e p o is o n o f a n y c h a r a c t e r in clu d in g Lead P o iso n ,.a s th e cause.; D r. B ry a n f u r t h e r 's t a t e s t h a t ;th e w e a k n e ss o f th e l e g s may be due to a d is e a s e o f th e n e rv e s , b u t s a y s - th a t i t would re q u ire a N e u r o lo g is t t o d e te rm in e t h a t . He s t a t e s t h a t D r. R e v in g to n i s p r im a r ily a -S u rg e o n .. And t h a t h e , h im s e lf , I s a g e n e r a l p r a c t i t i o n e r , and h a s n o t -s p p c i a l l i z e d in n e rv o u s d i s o r d e r s . Dr.- B ryan i s n o t im pressed w ith jth e c o rre c tn e s s of D r. R evington's o rig in a l d iag n o sis o f L ead P o i s o n . On i n q u i r y , I l e a r n e d t h a t t h i s C ity d o e s n o t su p p o rt a re c o g n iz e d N e u re lo g is t, b u t th a t D r. Chas. R. Thomas, M edical A rts. B d ild in g , and Dr. A lex Stew ard a re c o n sid ered th e le a d in g nerve s p e c ia lis ts . . - B very e f f o r t was made t o o b ta in a copy of th e H o s p ita l R e p o rt, h u t t h i s man. d e n ie d , h o w e v e r, I was r e m i t t e d t o make memory fro m th e re p o r t, and th e in fo rm a tio n shorn above g iv es a l l of th e s a lie n t f a c ts . I n s o f a r a s th ip ex am in atio n w ent, th e re i s no ev id en ce of le a d p o iso n ," b u t t h i s e x a m in a tio n d o e s n o t go f a r enough to T rove t h a t i t i s n o t ' le a d p o is o n i n 't h e e y e s o f a j u r y who w ould be ie d t o b e l i e v e t h a t what m ight, n o t a f f e c t one man, may have a d ead ly r e s u l t upon .a n o th e r, and I th in k the a u th o ritie s are in acco rd , th a t th e p h y sic a l .. ' #3 C hattanooga, Term. C ontinued re a c tio n ' o f th e in d iv id u a l to a ,given su b stan ce raust be .co n sid ered , f a t h e r th a n th e g e n e ra l e f f e c t s on p e rso n s a s a w hole, in a llo w in g dam ages. The absence o f s tip u le d blood c o l l s , s le e p le s s n e s s and h a llu c in a tio n s , would in d ic a te th a t th e re i s no s e rio u s le a d p o iso n . At th e tim e -o f th e ex a m in a tio n , no a n a ly s is o f th e fa c e was m ade. Your a t t e n t i o n i s c a lle d to p u b lic H e a lth B u lle tin Ho, 163 (1926; a r e p o r t o f a C om m ittee h e a d e d by D r. '.7.H *H bw ell, on th e f i n d i n g s o f t h i s c o m m itte e a f t e r a s tu d y o f 252 i n d i v i d u a l s , 57 o f whom w ere -csrage w orkers su b je c te d to p o s s ib le lo a d .(te tr a e th y l) p o iso n over p e r io d s a n o r o x im a tin g tw o y e a r s . T h is g ro u p o f 57 men a l l showed S tip p le d b lo o d c e l l s , and le a d s to r a g e i n xhe. f a c e s .- T h is co m m ittee, a f t e r many t e s t s , d e c id e d upon th r e e .m a jo r t e s t s th a t i t was hoped would y ie ld q u a n titiv e d a te o f an o b je c tiv e c h a r a c te r , a s an in d ex of le a d in g e s tio n or a b s o rp tio n , th e s e w ere, th e am ountof le a d i n xhe f a c e s , th e number o f s tip p le d re d c e lls and m easurem ents o f th e s t r e n g t h o f th e e x t e n s o r m u s c l e s 'o f t h e f o r e a r m . B'ne r e p o r t s t a t e s th a t the- f i r s t two m ethods y ie ld e d r e s u l t s o f p o s itiv e v a lu e , w hile the l a s t was p r a c tic a lly n e g a tiv e so f a r a s t h e i r in v e s tig a tio n was co n c e rn e d . . .. l j 3'rom t h i s you w i l l n o te t h a t D r. Be v i n g t o n l a y s c o n s i d e r a b l e s tr e s s on th e w eakness of the forearm , or w rist dropping, as an in d ic a tio n of lead p o iso n , w hereas the above com m ittee say s i t i s of n e g a tiv e v a lu e . The two m e th o d s .fo u n d o f g re a te s rtu v a lu e by th e com m ittee, were n o t r e s o r te d to in th e b a se o f in the one in s ta n c e , th a t o f fa c e s a n y lis is , and in th e o th e r, he showed no S tip p le d c e l l s . A ll o f th e 57 man above m en tio n ed showed S tip p le d c e l l s to a more or l a s s d e g re e . A fte r th is in fo rm atio n was o b tain ed , I in terv iew ed H argraves an d in fo rm e d him t h a t o u r Company was i n c l i n e d t o d e fe n d any s u i t t h a t he m ight b r in g , b u t t h t th ey m ight bo w i l l i n g to s e t t l e o r a d ju s t the n a tte r fo r an amount approxim ating th e c o st of such d e f e n s e , t h a t we f a i t , i n v ie w o f t h e in f o r m a t i o n a t hand t h a t t h e r e was n o j u s t i f i c a t i o n i n th e dem and, we d o u b te d th e f a c t t h a t ^ H ^ ^ I ^ . was a v ic tim of le a d p o iso n , and i f so , c e r ta in ly n o t as a r e s u lt o f t e t r a e t h y l l e a d i n G u lf G a s o lin e , t h a t we w ere p r e p a r e d t o show th a t le a d poison was a c c u m u la tiv e , and t h a t th e q u a n tity of le a d in G.G. G a so lin e was so sm a ll, and th e tia e ^ J jM ^ w a ts s u b je c te d to i t was o f so s h o r t d u r a t i o n , t h a t t h e e n t i r e m s m i ^ r i n s o f a r a s we w ere c o n c e rn e d was an im p o s s ib le h y p o t h e s i s . H a rg ra v e s wou l d n o t name a f ig u r e on w hich he co u ld recommend a s e ttle m e n t and s u g g e s te d t h a t .1 a s c e r t a i n th e am ount th e Company w ould c o n s i d e r i t w ould c o s t to defend th e s u i t , and re p o rt back to him w ith in a r e a s o n a b le le n g t h o f tim e . T h is s u i t c a n n o t be b r o u ^ i t f o r t r i a l b efo re the n ex t Septem ber term of c o u rt. ..i H a r g r a v e s l a t e r c a l l e d me an d a d v is e d t h a t two o th e r p e r s o n s h a d v isite d h is o ffic e re la tiv e to te tra e th y l lead poison cases in vrhieh o u r company was in v o lv e d . He s a i d he d id n o t w ant t o f i l e t h e s u i t i f i t c o u ld be s e t t l e d . 'o t h e r w i s e , a s t o do s o m ig h t p r e c ip ita te a flo o d of such s u i t s . I do n o t ta k e th a t sta te m e n t s e r i o u s l y , and th in k i t was made to h a s te n m a tte r s in th e W tttB e a s e . I f I may o f f e r an o p in io n h e r e , I would say t h a t t h i s case is one w ith very l i t t l e m iddle ground, i t is e ith e r,v e ry dangerous and s h o u ld be s e t t l e d , o r s h o u ld be d e fn d e d by. a b l e c o u n c i l , i t may b e p o s s i b l e t o '/ d e f l a t e H a r g r a v e s i d e a o f v a l u e s a n d e f f e c t a r e a s o n a b l e s e t t l e m e n t , e v e n i f s u i t I s f i l e d , b u t I am o f th e o p in io n t h a t he w i l l 'h o l d o u t f o r a sum i n e x c e s s o f one th o u s a n d d o l l a r s . U n less a more reaso n ab le s e tt lam ent could be had, and such i s p o s s ib le w ith th e developem ent o f now in fo rm a tio n , I w ould recommend th e em ploym ent o f Tatum A n d e rso n an d Ta tu m , A tto r n e y s o f C h a tta n o o g a , p ro v id e d Byron T atu m 's p e rs o n a l s e rv ic es could be h a d . You w i l l r e c a l l Byrum Tatum h a n d le d o u r d e fe n c e in the D .T .L ig h t case h e re aboul one y e a r a g o , and was s u c c e s s f u l i n ge t t l n g an i n s t r u c t i o n f o r th e Company, a s w ell as a ju r y v e r d ic t f o r our s e rv ic e s t a t i o n a tte n d a n ts , who w ere c o - d e f e n d a n t s , i n th e f a c e o f c o n s i d e r a b l e o d d s . Yours v e ry tr u ly ,